Tuesday 7 October 2014

The Sludgelord Present: Full Stream of Phantom Glue's 'Angels of Meth' Demo


For those of you who didn’t know, 27th Sept 2014 was officially Cassette Store day. Essentially a similar initiative as Record Store day, to support independent music retailers, part of the appeal is limited re-releases or one off specials.  One such exclusive was the release of Phantom Glue’s early ‘Angels of Meth’ demo on cassette via Negative Fun Records.

Dating back to 2006, when the band was known as Angels of Meth, for all intents and purposes, Phantom Glue is Angels of Meth. The band was formed by Matt Oates and has existed in various states since the mid ‘00s.

According to Negative Fun, Phantom Glue was known as Angels of Meth through the course of the recording of their debut full length, the Phantom Glue S/T record. Indeed, it wasn't until after the recording process was completed for this record that the band decided to change the name, to what we now know as Phantom Glue.  Now I am not ashamed to express my love for this band, indeed last year I rated their latest record ‘War of Light Cones’ my no.1 record of 2013.  Their unique blend of sludge and noise rock puts them in a category of one, indeed it is not just their music that appeals, the signature artwork of Matt Oakes is also totally unique and fits brilliantly with their music.  It is no wonder that they’re part of the thriving Boston music scene that continues to boast a wealth of talent. 

Despite the fairly dramatic difference in sound from this 1st demo to Phantom Glue's 2013 release ‘A War Of Light Cones’ (and the soon to exist 3rd full length) the essence of the band; the creative process, aesthetic and lyrical concepts remain the same. Of course, the early demo has a long lasting appeal, because it is a permanent reminder of the ingredients of what would go on to be ‘Phantom Glue’. 



Phantom Glue’s relationship with renowned producer/ Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou is presented on this demo tape and they have recorded with him on each future release, ‘Phantom Glue’ on Teenage Disco Blood Bath Records and more recently ‘War of Light Cones’ on Black Market Activities.  This demo has never existed in a physical format until now, and further illustrates the dramatic development and shift in sound from release to release. For that reason, I’m personally stoked to have the chance to host the exclusive full stream of the demo below.


In other Phantom Glue news, the band is gearing up to record their 3rd full length, again at God City with Kurt Ballou. Indeed Mike Gowell discussed how much of the writing for this new record was done before the release of ‘War of Light Cones’ during my interview with him last year, you can read here.  



Bassist Nick Wolf's band The Proselyte released their new record which you can read here.  The record was released on Gypsy Blood records, the label set up by Stavros from The Atlas Moth's.  These two bands are also touring together in October.   

Phantom Glue guitarist Mike Gowell is playing alongside Doomrider's guitarist Chris Pupecki and former Doomrider's drummer Chris Bevalaqua in the new project called Wormwood.  It is scheduled to be released on CD via Patac Records, vinyl on Magic Bullet Records and cassette via Negative Fun Records.  You can also read our review here

You can pick up a copy of the Angels of Meth demo here. Do yourself a favour and check out their other releases too.



For more information

bandcamp - http://negativefunrecords.bandcamp.com/